Hyun Ki-young: Suni Samchon Translated by Lee Jung-hi Asia Publishers Bilingual Edition, 2012, 186pp Jeju Island, in Korean literature of the late 70s and 80s, is not the honeymoon destination of more recent years. It was a place of poverty, of bitter memories – a place to escape from rather than a destination to visit […]
Category: 1945-1960
SOAS seminar: Socialist competition and class formation in DPRK, 1953-56
A seminar at SOAS tomorrow, just announced. Looks interesting. Socialist competition and class formation in North Korea’s post-Korean War recovery, 1953-1956 Dr Owen Miller (SOAS) Friday 6 December 2019, 5:15 – 7:00 pm Venue: Paul Webley Wing (Senate House) Room: Alumni Lecture Theatre Register on SOAS website Abstract How did North Korea manage to recover […]
Review: Hyun Kil-un – Dead Silence and other stories of the Jeju Massacre
Translated by Hyunsook Kang, Jin-ah Lee and John Michael McGuire Eastbridge Books, 2006, 206 pages On a trip to Jeju Island a few years ago I remember having a slightly tipsy interaction with a Jeju-based journalist and intellectual, as we staggered from 2cha to 3cha via a liquor store. “I don’t like America”, he solemnly […]
Film Review: Love, Lies (Park Heung-sik, 2016)
An historic album made by a hitherto unknown Korean popular music singer from the colonial period is literally unearthed in a modern-day construction site. Miraculously, although the LP is damaged, audio engineers can restore the sound to something like the original, for broadcast on a golden oldies radio show. But who is the singer, and […]
Screening: Returning, After Seventy Years
Wednesday 29 October 2019, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm SOAS | Russell Square | College Buildings Room: 4429 Register online here Synopsis In September 1950 the Daily Worker journalist Alan Winnington released his pamphlet “I Saw The Truth in Korea” which documented atrocities in Daejeon during the Korean War presided over by the South Korean […]
[Cambridge] Ra Jong-yil Lecture – Professor Carter Eckert
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This year’s Ra Jong-yil Lecture at Cambridge will be given by Professor Carter Eckert from Harvard University: The US in the Making of South Korean Militarism (1945-1961). The Shasha Suite | Westminster College | Madingley Road | Cambridge Wednesday, 29 May, 2019 – 17:00 to 19:00 Militarism has been deeply intertwined with Korean history and […]
SOAS seminar: the Failure of the US-Soviet Joint Commission, 1946 – 1947
An interesting-looking session which may help us to see current developments through an historical lens. Ominous Clouds over Korea: The Failure of the US-Soviet Joint Commission, 1946—1947 Prof Mark E Caprio (Rikkyo University) Friday 8 March 2019Time: 5:15 pm – 7:00 pm | Register via SOAS website Venue: SOAS | Russell Square | College Buildings […]
Book review: Blaine Harden – King of Spies
Blaine Harden: King of Spies – The dark reign of America’s spymaster in Korea Mantle, 2018, 272 pp The character of the maverick cop, or even maverick spy, delivering outstanding results through unorthodox means and despite a disregard for hierarchy, is a familiar one in crime and spy fiction. Blaine Harden, who worked with Shin […]
November literature night: Mary Lynn Bracht’s White Chrysanthemum
A break from tradition this month. November’s book for discussion is a novel written in English, rather than one translated from the Korean. We’ll be there because we rather liked the book. White Chrysanthemum: A discussion with author Mary Lynn Bracht Wednesday 28 November, 19.00-21.00 Venue: Korean Cultural Centre UK Entrance Free – Booking Essential. […]
Book review: Mary Lynn Bracht — White Chrysanthemum
Mary Lynn Bracht: White Chrysanthemum Penguin Random House 2018, 320pp White Chrysanthemum, the debut novel from Mary Lynn Bracht, tells the story of two sisters, brought up on Jeju Island, who were tragically separated in the last years of the Second World War. The elder sister, Hana, is abducted into sexual slavery by a Japanese […]
RIP Bill Speakman VC
The funeral was held this week for Bill Speakman, the so-called Beer Bottle VC. The ceremony was held on 19 July in the Wren Chapel at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, where Speakman was a pensioner. He died peacefully at the Hospital on 20 June 2018, aged 90, surrounded by members of his family. Obituaries can be […]
The Longest Tomb: Documentary on the Daejeon Massacre (1950)
At SOAS next week: Film Screening and Q&A: The Longest Tomb 29 May 2018, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Paul Webley Wing (Senate House) Room: Alumni Lecture Theatre Facebook event page Knowledge is Power and The Education Centre for Peace and Reunification present The Longest Tomb, the first ever documentary on the controversial subject of […]
Film review: Yu Hyun-mok’s Descendants of Cain
I had looked forward to the first movie in the KCC’s Korean Novels on Screen series – Kim Ki-young’s adaptation of Yi Kwang-su’s The Soil – and had been disappointed. Conversely, not being a particular fan of Yu Hyun-mok’s depressing movies, I was regarding the second in the series – his adaptation of Hwang Sun-won’s 1954 […]
April Literature Night: Silver Stallion with Ahn Jung-hyo
Ahn Jung-hyo is in town not just to talk about his novel Silver Stallion but also his Vietnam War novel White Badge, which will be screened at the KCC later in the week. We reviewed Silver Stallion ten years ago but that won’t stop us reading it again. Literature Night: Ahn Jung-hyo’s Silver Stallion 25 […]
Japan Society talk: Escaping to North Korea – with Markus Bell
Apologies for the late notice of tomorrow’s talk organised by the Japan Society, which may by now be fully subscribed. The speaker gave a fascinating talk at SOAS on broadly the same subject a few months ago, so I’d have high hopes of this one too. Escaping to North Korea – with Markus Bell 19 […]
SOAS conference: Colonialism and its Reverberations
A good half-day conference coming at the beginning of February. Check the event’s Facebook page or the SOAS website for updates. Colonialism and its Reverberations: ‘Comfort Women’ and Historical Revisionism in Korea and Japan Professor Yonson Ahn (University of Frankfurt), Professor Vladimir Tikhonov (University of Oslo), Professor Chong Yeonghwan (Meiji Gakuin University) 3 February 2018, […]
Exhibition news: Memories of Korea, at Han Collection from 6 January
An interesting exhibition to start the New Year: Memories of Korea – Cross-vision from East and West 6th – 28th January 2017 Han Collection | 30 Museum Street | London WC1A 1LH | www.hancollection.co.uk A collection of woodblock prints from both eastern and western artists, using traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques along with a mix […]